Only in name....

The Malaysian Bar.

National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE).

National Union of Journalists (NUJ).

What do these three bodies have in common?

They are but a few examples of how the words "national" and "Malaysian" are misused in this day and age.

Why?

Well, all three of these organisations do not represent the people from their respective professions at a national level.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Malaysian Bar only represents lawyers practising in Peninsular Malaysia.

NUBE even states it very clearly on its website that it's a "national union representing workers in the banking and financial institutions in Peninsular Malaysia."

As for NUJ, it only has branches in Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd, Berita Harian Sdn Bhd, New Straits Times Press, The Sun Media Corporation, Star Publications, Nanyang Siang Pau, Sin Chew Jit Poh and Kwong Wah Yit Poh, all of which are peninsula-based.

For such big organisations, you'd think they'd come up with names that properly represents who and what they really represent.

Unfortunately, they must have overlooked this little detail, or rather, perhaps they overlooked entirely the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak once again.

After all, to this very day, there are people who still think Malaysia = Semenanjung Malaysia only and Sabahans and Sarawakians are "foreigners."

Heck, I remember one guy I met in the course of my work who referred to "an Indonesian, a Sarawakian, and a Peninsular Malaysian" as "orang Indon, orang Sarawak dan orang Malaysia."

Go figure.